Things we tell clients before they ask.
Short pieces from our everyday client work, all built on the idea that people can see a brand every day and still not choose it. We look at what's changing in social, in media and in how people buy, and what we'd do if it were our brand. Each piece gives our opinion and its sources.
Is the brand budget first in line for cuts?
Nike and PepsiCo raise brand budgets as sales slow, Meta sells guaranteed reach, and Levi’s shows that money can’t rescue a message customers don’t want.
The comms team you don’t pay
Google’s AI summaries, AI assistants, creators and forums say things about your brand that you didn’t write, and Škoda showed on Reddit what to do about it.
Sometimes marketing tries to do too much
Why brands that do fewer, bigger things come out ahead, with examples from McDonald’s and Nestlé and a study on creators.
What are 100,000 views worth?
With Google keeping more of the traffic, clip farms inflating reach and creators hard to measure, we look at what views are actually worth now.
January 2026 in social: more control, more AI
January 2026 brought more control and more AI to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn, and here is what that means for anyone working in social media.
Marketing 2026: algorithms change, people don’t
Algorithms and AI keep changing but people don’t. Here are the three needs to build your 2026 strategy on.
June 2025: AI moves into video marketing
June 2025 brought more AI to video, plus new ad formats on Meta, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Elastic ideas: one campaign, four channels
Three steps to check whether a campaign idea stretches without breaking and works as well on TV as it does on social media and in OOH.
Why old ads stick and new ones vanish
Why 1990s ads stayed in our heads, and which lessons from traditional advertising you can use in digital today.
Why personalisation matters in digital marketing
Six ways personalisation makes digital campaigns work better, with examples from Spotify, Amazon and Netflix.
Email marketing trends for 2027
Six trends changing email marketing, from AI and AMP emails to mobile-first and GDPR, each with a concrete example.
The Fediverse: what's left of the revolution
What the Fediverse is, why marketers should keep an eye on it and what Meta's Threads is doing in this open social network.
Social search in 2026: where people look now
How often young people search TikTok, YouTube and Instagram instead of Google, and how to get your content ready for social search.
Algospeak: coded language that fools algorithms
Where algospeak comes from, which coded words are doing the rounds on social media and what they tell us about automated content moderation.
Colour psychology in digital advertising
What each colour says in ads and on social media, and how to use it to lift engagement and conversions.
Employer branding on TikTok that works for Gen Z
What to post on TikTok to attract Gen Z talent, and how to turn your employees into brand ambassadors.
3 ways AI helps marketing teams
Where AI helps with research, social media and SEO, what BMW and Heinz did with it, and where you need to be careful.
The 7 most likeable ads of Super Bowl 2023
Seven Super Bowl 2023 ads that actually made us smile, from Pepsi to Dunkin' with Ben Affleck, and what we liked about each.
Social commerce: selling direct on social media
How social commerce differs from e-commerce, what you can already do on Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and why big brands should take it seriously.
The 10 most creative campaigns of 2018–2020
Ten creative campaigns, from Nike to Dunkin', that show a clear purpose gets people talking more than a big budget does.
Data in the modern marketing organisation
How a company becomes data-driven, from the data strategy and the mixed team to a full view of the customer and decisions made on data.
5 tools to analyse your competitors online
Five tools that show what your competitors do online, from content and traffic to keywords, ads and technology.
6 marketing books for brand managers
Six marketing books for brand managers, what each one teaches you and why Kotler is no longer on the list.
Meta Ads: 10 terms and metrics explained
What ten Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads) metrics actually mean, from video views and clicks to Lookalike Audiences and ThruPlays.
13 free digital marketing courses in 2026
13 free courses in digital marketing, social media and AI, checked in October 2026, with who each one suits, how long it takes and what to skip.
Digital marketing strategy in 6 questions
Six questions that help you understand the customer journey and build a digital marketing strategy you can actually measure.
Newsletter
Twice a month, the changes in marketing worth knowing about and what they mean for your brand. Every link comes with our take, so you walk into your next meeting with something to say.